HOME-GROWN SILKWORM-GUT 217 



If conditions are not right the caterpillar loses its 

 appetite; its plump, firm appearance is changed to 

 a thin and watery one; its skin cracks, and a whitish 

 mold appears which soon kills the diseased worm. 

 Dead or sickly specimens should be removed at 

 once; and the cage should be thoroughly scalded 

 and dried to kill any remaining germs. A little pre- 

 caution, taken every day, will prevent such disastrous 

 happenings and assure the successful maturing of 

 the brood. 



While I have been writing, the caterpillars have 

 been feeding and growing; in a week or so they have 

 developed sufficiently to be ready for the second 

 moult. The process of resting, cessation from feed- 

 ing, and shedding of skin is repeated; after this 

 moult the color is distinctively yellow, and the larger 

 tubercles are apparent. The worms should now 

 be thinned out, some in each cage being transferred 

 to another. Always be sure that the new receptacle 

 is clean. Remember, the conditions of success are 

 two: perfect cleanliness, and sufficient food of a 

 proper kind; under these conditions the caterpillars 

 thrive like young chicks. After a somewhat longer 

 period of feeding and they will keep you busy 

 gathering leaves they moult for the third time. 

 At this stage their heads are green with black mark- 

 ings; the bodies have become yellow and have two 

 rows of black dots running from " stem to stern ". 

 The large black, red, and yellow tubercles might 



